Not A Single Multiplayer Title Nominated For Game of the Year 2025

• Multiplayer games only nominated in a handful of categories
  
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 most nominated game this year
  
• Public votes do not determine winners – the industry does
  
• All nominees listed in each category

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Nominated For 10 Different Awards

The most coveted award in the video game industry will not be going to a multiplayer shooter or RPG despite a string of strong contenders for the top prize. There is no multiplayer game even listed among the nominees to snag Game of the Year 2025 at the upcoming Game Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Nov Dec.11.

As was to be expected, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads the pack with nominations in 10 different categories, including Game of the Year and three entries in the Best Performance category. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yōtei follow with nominations in seven categories. Best Multiplayer ought to be a competition between Battlefield 6 and ARC Raiders.

Last time a multiplayer game won Game of the Year was in 2016 when Overwatch beat the closest rival Titanfall 2. Voting for winners in each of the 29 Game Awards categories this year is now open and will be available until Dec. 10.

Team Cherry broke the mold this year with their sudden release of Hollow Knight: Silksong, giving online market places a notice period of two weeks before releasing on Sept. 4. Fans had been waiting for seven years and their run to buy the game priced at $19.99 wreaked havoc with servers going down. The indie hit is nominated for 5 awards.

Only 10% Of Public Votes Apply To Determine Winners

Game Awards winners are determined by a combined vote from the public and the voting jury, but only 10% of the popular vote count which means that the jury effectively decides the winners.

The voting jury is made up of over 100 media companies and influencer outlets around the world connected to the gaming industry. These are selected based on their history of evaluating video games and among them are Entertainment Weekly, EuroGamer, GamesRadar, IGN, PC Gamer, Polygon, and Pride.

Allowing the full vote to go to fans would be unfair in the Game Awards’ organizers opinion as some games may only be available on a single platform which would give them a distinct disadvantage. Also, having a voting jury ensures that winners cannot be picked based on social media campaigns.

All Categories And Nominees For This Year’s Game Awards

Game of the Year 2025

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach – Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Silksong – Team Cherry
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – Warhorse Studios
• Hades II – Supergiant Games
• Donkey Kong Bananza  – Nintendo

Best Game Direction

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach – Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Ghost of Yōtei – Sucker Punch Productions
• Hades II – Supergiant Games
• Split Fiction Hazelight Studios

Best Narrative

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach – Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Ghost of Yōtei – Sucker Punch Productions
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – Warhorse Studios
• Silent Hill f – Konami

Best Art Direction

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach – Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Ghost of Yōtei – Sucker Punch Productions
• Hades II – Supergiant Games
• Silksong – Team Cherry

Best Score And Music

• Christopher Larkin – Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Darren Korb – Hades II
• Lorien Testard – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Toma Otowa – Ghost of Yotei
• Woodkid And Luvig Forssell – Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

Best Audio Design

• Battlefield 6 – EA
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach – Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Ghost of Yōtei – Sucker Punch Productions
• Silent Hill f – Konami

Best Performance

• Ben Starr – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Charlie Cox – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Erika Ishii – Ghost of Yōtei
• Jennifer English – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Konatsu Kato – Silent Hill f
• Troy Baker – Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Innovation In Accessibility

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Ubisoft
• Atomfall – Rebellion
• Doom: The Dark Ages – id Software/Bethesda Softworks
• EA Sports FC 26 – EA Canada/EA Romania/EA
• South of Midnight – Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios

Games For Impact

• Consume Me – Jenny Jiao Hsia/AP Thomson/Hexacutable
• Despolete – Julian Cordero/Sebastian Valbuena/Panic
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage – Don’t Nod Montreal/Don’t Nod
• South of Midnight – Compulsion Games/Xbox Game Studios
• Wanderstop – Ivy Road/Annapurna Interactive

Best Ongoing

• Final Fantasy XIV – Square Enix
• Fortnite – Epic Games
• Helldivers 2 – Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Marvel Rivals – NetEase Games
• No Man’s Sky – Hello Games

Best Community Support

• Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
• Final Fantasy XIV – Square Enix
• Fortnite – Epic Games
• Helldivers 2 – Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• No Man’s Sky – Hello Games

Best Independent Game

• Absolum – Guard Crush Games/Supamonks/Dotemu
• Ball X Pit – Kenny Sun/Develover Digital
• Blue Prince – Dogubomb/Raw Fury
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive
• Hades II – Supergiant Games
• Hollow Knight: Silksong – Team Cherry

Best Debut Indie Game

• Blue Prince – Dogubomb/Raw Fury
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive
• Despolete – Julian Cordero/Sebastian Valbuena/Panic
• Dispatch – AdHoc Studio
• Megabonk – Vedinand

Best Mobile Game

• Destiny: Rising – NetEase Games
• Persona 5: The Phantom X – Black Wings Game Studio/Sega
• Sonic Rumble – Rovio Entertainment/Sega
• Umamsusme: Pretty Derby – Cygames Inc.
• Wuthering Waves – Kuro Games

Best VR/AR

• Alien: Rogue Incursion – Survios
• Arken Age – VitruviusVR
• Ghost Town – Fireproof Games
• Marvel’s Deadpool VR – Twisted Pixel Games/Oculus Studios
• The Midnight Walk – MoonHood/Fast Travel Games

Best Action Game

• Battlefield 6 – Battlefield Studios/EA
• Doom: The Dark Ages – idSoftware/Bethesda Softworks
• Hades II – Supergiant Games
• Ninja Gaiden 4 -Platinum Games/Team Ninja/Xbox Game Studios
• Shinobi: Art of Vengeance – Lizardcube/Sega

Best Action/Adventure

• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach – Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Ghost of Yōtei – Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Hollow Knight: Silksong – Team Cherry
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks
• Split Fiction – Hazelight Studios/EA

Best RPG

• Avowed – Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive
• Kingdom Come Deliverance II – Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver
• Monster Hunter Wilds – Capcom
• The Outer Worlds 2 – Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios

Best Fighting

• 2XKO – Riot Games
• Capcom Fighting Collection 2 – Capcom
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves – SNK Corporation
• Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection – Digital Eclipse/Atari
• Virtual Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage – Ryu Ga Gotaku Studios/Sega

Best Family

• Donkey Kong Bananza – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• Lego Party! – SMG Studio/Fictions
• Lego Voyagers – Light Brick Studios/Annapurna Interactive
• Mario Kart World – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• Sonic Racing: Crossworlds – Sonic Team/Sega
• Split Fiction – Hazelight Studios/EA

Best Sim/Strategy

• Final Fantasy Tactics – The Invalice Chronicles – Square Enix
• Jurassic World Evolution 3 – Frontier Developments
• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII – Firaxis Games/2K
• Tempest Rising – Slipgate Ironworks/3D Realms
• The Alters – 11 Bit Studios
• Two Point Museum – Two Point Studios/Sega

Best Sports/Racing

• EA Sports FC 26 – EA Canada/EA Romania/EA
• F1 25 – Codemasters/EA
• Mario Kart World – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• Rematch – Sloclap/Kepler Interactive
• Sonic Racing: Crossworlds – Sonic Team/Sega

Best Multiplayer

• ARC Raiders – Embark Studios
• Battlefield 6 – Electronic Arts
• Elden Ring Nightreign – FromSoftware Bandai/Namco Entertainment
• Peak – Aggro Crab/Landfall
• Split Fiction – Hazelight Studios/EA

Best Adaptation

• A Minecraft Movie – Legendary Pictures/Mojang/Warner Bros
• Devil May Cry – Studio Mir/Capcom/Netflix
• Splinter Cell: Deathwatch – FOST Studio/Ubisoft/Netflix
• The Last of Us: Season 2 – HBO/PlayStation Productions
• Until Dawn – Screen Gems/PlayStation Productions

Most Anticipated Game

• 007 First Light – IO Interactive
• Grand Theft Auto VI – Rockstar Games
• Marvel’s Wolverine – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Resident Evil Requiem – Capcom
• The Witcher IV – CD Projekt Red

Content Creator of the Year

• Caedrel
• Kai Cenat
• Moistcr1tikal
• Sakura Miko
• The Burnt Peanut

Best Esports Game

• Counter-Strike 2 – Valve
• Dota 2 – Valve
• League of Legends – Riot
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang – Moonton
• Valorant – Riot

Best Esports Athlete

• Brawk – Brock Somerhalder – Valorant
• Chovy – Jeong Ji-Hoon – League of Legends
• Forsaken – Jason Susanto – Valorant
• Kakeru – Kakeru Watanabe – Street Fighter
• Menard – Saul Leonardo – Street Fighter
• Zyw0o – Mathieu Herbaut – Counter-Strike 2

Best Esports Team

• Gen.G – League of Legends
• NRG – Valorant
• Team Falcons – Dota 2
• Team Liquid PH – Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
• Team Vitality – Counter-Strike 2

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